The field of the invention is nail clippers and the invention relates more particularly to an improvement to nail clippers which utilizes a source of light to illuminate the interior of the tip of a subject's finger. A problem exists especially with the cutting of an infant's or toddler's finger nails. The infant or toddler tends to pull away and move in such a way that it is very difficult to accomplish a nail clipping operation. It has been recommended that an infant's or toddler's nails be clipped while the infant or toddler is sleeping. The main difficulties in this approach is that it is typically dark when the infant is sleeping and turning on a light wakes the child.
Even in a brightly illuminated area, the intersection between the portion of the nail which extends beyond the subject's finger and that which is still part of the subject's finger is sometimes difficult to see. Several attempts have been made to illuminate the area of the cutting end of a nail end of a nail clipper. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,592, where a pair of LEDs is held outwardly from the end of the nail clipper to illuminate a target place. Another patent showing a light to illuminate the cutting area is U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,251. This device also has a magnifying glass and the light is provided by LED 34. The light and the magnifying glass assist in the viewing of the nail clipping area whether it be for a pet or a human.
By placing the light at a significant distance from the finger nail, the result is the illumination of the exterior surface of the finger tip and nail. Such lighting does not emphasize the line between the finger nail over the finger and the extending part of the finger nail.